CELEBRATING WOMEN OF PEPPERFRY

At Pepperfry, we believe that a woman should be honored for the unique person she is; her strengths and weaknesses, her aspirations and her fears – beacons standing out rather than the background ambience of generalizations.

To this end we have picked for you, a few Women of Pepperfry for you to get to know better and read their stories. We hope these inspire you as they inspire us on a daily basis.

1. Not where you come from, but what you aspire to become – shapes you as a person.

“I come from a traditional Marwari family, where women have quite an insignificant role to play. When I was growing up, I longed to see parity and respect for all the women in my family. I aspired to grow up into a fiercely independent person. I found my voice when I took up Mass Media, which transformed me into the successful professional that I am today. But let me not forget the men in my life who never stopped supporting me. My father, who fought all odds to give my sister and me, the freedom to choose a career we wanted to; my brother, who never once lost faith in me, and most importantly, my husband – the man who makes me feel empowered to be who I am, gives me the confidence to go out and conquer my fears and the world. I passionately believe that, what shapes you as person is not where you come from, but what aspirations you aim for. I am proud to have proven myself right.”

– Nikita Jain, PR

2. If you want to be happy, be.

“My mom, never once talked about how much she missed my father; I think her feelings were way beyond expression. She was widowed at the age of 31 when I was only a year old, and my brother five. It’s sad how tough and uncomfortable it can get for a widowed woman sometimes, I can not be put in words. But she never cared about herself! She did not leave any stone unturned and ran all the household chores, stood up for herself, and brought us up. I was on my own all through my childhood, yet guarded by my family in a way.

Like many girls do, I imagined my life would be a fairy tale too. I found my Prince Charming, we dated for over 3 years and then we got married. Everything was actually like a fairy-tale up until a day when after 2 years, he suddenly left me alone and filed a divorce, without telling me why! Most of my friends, relatives, and people I knew deserted me, started looking down upon me. I started losing hope, and was on the verge of severe depression and self-isolation; when luckily my mother, my grandparents and my colleagues at work brought me back from this darkness. They stood by me and motivated me. They gave me a reason to start living again. And I did just that!

I started making better use of my time, reading books, painting and working for an NGO. More than a year later, I met the man who changed my life, he made me fall in love with myself again. He loved me unconditionally without caring about my past, present, and future. He talked to my family about us, helped them overcome their fears and proposed to me. It’s been over a year now that we’re married and I am about to give birth to our beautiful angel. When I look back I feel that life is beautiful, and I could never ask for more!

– Nupura Naik, Studio Pepperfry

3. Stand for what you think is right, ALWAYS!

“I was 17 when I met the person I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But I hail from a conservative family, and I knew for a fact that they would never approve. I have always respected how my parents compromised on their needs to make sure that my siblings and I get the best possible infrastructure. I have always loved them for how they raised me up, made me a kind-hearted and caring individual. But I was convinced to disagree with them when they forbade me from settling down with the person I so dearly wanted to. I went ahead, against all norms and tied the knot. Often tagged as a brave decision, only the one goes through, understands the emotional turmoil of not being the ‘good girl’ she was expected to be, turn ‘against’ the wishes of her family and choose her life partner. I still do not love anyone more than my parents, however differently my actions might imply and I still at times feel that void! But I have never once regretted my decision of following my heart, and not letting my fears prevent me from doing something that I felt was right.”